Floor tiles, commonly known as vinyl composition tiles ("VCT") are typically 12" by 12" by 1/8" thick. The composition of the tiles makes them brittle at room temperature and elastic at elevated temperatures.
In a typical tile installation covering 1000 ft.sup.2, about 7.0 hours are required to lay the first 970 of the tiles and a further 60 minutes are required to lay the remaining 30 tiles. As shown in Prior Art FIG. 1, remaining tiles a require custom fitting around non-linear features b (such as around circular drains), and along linear multi-stepped contours c (such as around door casings) before they can be installed into corresponding space s. Cutting these complex contours b,c is not possible using a commercial tile cutter which is capable only of performing linear cuts which extend across the entire tile.
About 2/3 of the time required to custom-fit the remaining tiles a is consumed in heating the tiles (about 1 to 2 minutes per tile) to an sufficiently elastic state to permit cutting with a razor knife. The success of this laborious heating procedure is dependent upon the contour and the lineal length of the cut, and the skill of the installer.
To date, heating means such as a hand-held propane torch or a heat gun d (heated air blower made especially for flooring) have been used for heating tile a locally along the proposed lines e for cutting. The heat gun provides a localized source of heat, with typical exhaust temperatures being dangerously, yet necessarily, hot (up to about 750.degree. F.).
This heating process is very time consuming and often results in inferior results. Disadvantages, associated with the prior art heating means, include:
about 2/3 of the time required to fit custom-cut tiles is consumed simply in an effort to heat only a portion of the tiles; PA1 a high degree of difficulty is involved in uniformly heating the entire length of a long cutting line e without locally overheating one area of the tile, risking physical or aesthetic damage to the tile a, or leaving other areas cool and subject to fracture. The installer must consider multiple variables including the size of the proposed cut, the temperature of the heat source, the distance of the heat source to the tile, and the speed at which the heat source is swept over the tile; PA1 commercial heat guns d typically require special high amperage circuits (20 Amp) not available at most worksites, requiring the use of adapters f coupled to common 15 Amp circuits, resulting in frequently blown circuits; PA1 the high exhaust temperature of the heat gun is a safety hazard for the installer, while in use and also when idle. Usually the installer will not attempt to hold the tile during heating to avoid exposure to the heat. Further, heat reflected from the tile causes discomfort for the installer; and PA1 there is a high potential for damage (heat discoloration and fire) to workplace structures, such as walls g against which tiles a are often supported and to surfaces h upon which the heating means d are temporarily rested. PA1 initially loading a plurality of original tiles onto a stack of heated trays, one tile per tray; PA1 heating each tile substantially uniformly throughout so that the entire tile is sufficiently elastic to be readily cut along the contour line without fracturing; PA1 removing a first heated tile from its respective heating tray for cutting by an installer, leaving the heating tray temporarily vacant; PA1 loading a first replacement tile onto the vacant heating tray for heating of the first replacement tile; PA1 heating the first replacement tile substantially uniformly throughout; PA1 repeating the steps of removing, loading, and heating tiles from different trays in sequence at each repeat, so that by the time all of the originally heated tiles have been removed, the first replacement tile is now uniformly heated, and so on for each sequentially replaced tile so that a tile is always uniformly heated and available for cutting by the installer.
Therefore, there has long been a need for an improved system of cutting VCT flooring tiles which demonstrates a high rate of success, is more convenient and poses a reduced risk to personnel, the workplace, and the tiles themselves.